Ochtend Flits

Who are they?

VVD stands for Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie — the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. For over a decade they were the dominant force in Dutch politics, producing prime ministers (minister-presidenten) and setting the agenda. They're the party of businesspeople, urban professionals, and anyone who thinks the market mostly knows best.

Think: British Conservatives minus the Brexit disaster, or the more sensible wing of the Republican party before things got weird. They like low taxes, they're fine with immigration when the economy needs workers, and they figured out gay marriage decades before it became fashionable elsewhere.

What they stand for

• Free market economics, low business taxes, deregulation
• A firm line on immigration — at least when the polls require it
• Pro-EU, pro-NATO (NAVO), reliably pro-Atlantic
• Socially liberal on personal freedoms (euthanasia, same-sex marriage, drug policy)

They'll say they're about freedom, and they mean it — mostly economic freedom. Don't confuse them with civil liberties liberals. When the government needed surveillance powers, VVD found reasons to support them.

Leadership

After Mark Rutte left for NATO in 2023, Dilan Yeşilgöz took the helm. She's kept the party in its lane but tacked rightward on immigration, trying to hold ground against PVV.

Their usual voters

Suburban homeowners, small business owners, higher-income urban professionals. People who grumble about taxes and want the government to work efficiently and then leave them alone.

Recent moves

• 2023: Coalition talks collapsed partly over VVD's stated unwillingness to govern with PVV. Then they ended up supporting a PVV-led cabinet anyway. Their credibility on this took a hit.
• 2024: Backed the Schoof cabinet — a right-leaning coalition led by a prime minister with no party affiliation, propped up by PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB. An awkward position for a party that once called Wilders a line they wouldn't cross.
• 2026: Yeşilgöz argues that the Hypotheekrenteaftrek crisis (one million homeowners losing their deduction in 2031) should be left to the next cabinet to fix — over the objections of coalition partners D66 and CDA who want a decision now.